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about the show

The Austrian Cultural Forum New York is pleased to presentNormalities, a show starring artists from the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia), Croatia, as well as from Austria and the United States. Artists include Flaka Haliti, Armando Lulaj, Damir Ocko, and Irena Lagator Pejovic, whose works were featured at the 55th and 56th Venice Biennials in 2013 and 2015, respectively.

For philosopher Slavoj Zizek the very name “Balkans” is almost synonymous with “otherness” and deliberately used to distinguish oneself from one’s very neighbor. In the past century, the region was a laboratory of extraordinary political circumstances, and still is by all means a place in constant transition. In recent times, Southeastern Europe has gone through a massive transformation in an economical as well as political sense. Migration has made Vienna the fastest growing European capital, the city with the third-largest Serbian population, and home to many emerging artists. The integration of the Western Balkan countries into the European Union is a clear goal, but still an ongoing process. Apart from these political aspects of normalization, the concept of ‘normality’ becomes all the more attractive within various different theoretical frameworks and disciplines, from philosophy and psychology to sociology and, of course, the arts.

Normalities sets out to explore the concept of normality from a number of different angles—focusing on the Balkans, but extending outwards. What does it mean to be an artist almost a quarter of a century after the fall of Yugoslavia in a globalized world? How can identity collectively and individually be preserved? These questions are crucial, for artists from the region but also beyond. They are similar to those that are being asked all around the globe, in a world that has changed so quickly in the last few decades. The term ‘normality’ defies any attempt at a concise—let alone exhaustive—definition. Its meaning is in constant flux, changing in the most unpredictable ways, as the Balkan region has over the past century.

Curated by Marko Lulic and Christine Moser, Normalitiesinitiates a new narrative and dialogue that unites the artists on view through their disparities within the confines of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York’s unique exhibition spaces.

Kerstin von Gabain

about the curators

Marco Lulic

Marko Lulic, born in 1972 in Vienna, is a Vienna-based artist, whose work is concerned with the intersection of art, architecture, ideology, and aesthetics. In recent years, he has also curated several exhibitions at the Secession (Vienna, Austria), the Siemens Arts Program, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Belgrade, Serbia), and for Gabriele Senn Gallery (Vienna, Austria). He has shown in The Authors institutions like Storefront for Art and Architecture (New York City, USA), MSUB - Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade (Belgrade, Serbia), Witte de With – Center for Contemporary Art (Rotterdam, Netherlands), 21er Haus (Vienna, Austria), Lentos Art Museum (Linz, Austria), Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna, Austria), MSU – Museum of Contemporary Art (Zagreb, Croatia), MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art (Vienna, Austria), Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen (St. Gallen, Switzerland), and FKV – Frankfurter Kunstverein (Frankfurt, Germany). His work was also included in The Biennale of Sydney (Sydney, Australia), the 12th Swiss Sculpture Exhibition (Biel/Bienne, Switzerland), the October Salon (Belgrade, Serbia), and the Chicago Architecture Biennial (Chicago, USA).

Christine Moser

Christine Moser is director of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York with its contemporary programming across all disciplines. A leading Austrian diplomat, her previous postings include Austrian ambassador to the Organization for Security and Development in Europe, deputy chief of the Austrian embassy in Paris as well as assignments in the fields of European integration and human rights. She first got to know New York City and New England during her studies as a Fulbright scholar at Smith College, Massachusetts.